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A local pond is full of super small bluegill. I tried to catch some to use as catfish bait but I just couldn't get any on the hook. They pecked at the bait but never got the hook in their mouth. I used a fairly small hook and have smaller. Any particular baits that small little bluegill like and will actually commit to putting the whole thing in their mouth?
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BA ... forget the hook & get a cast net with 1/4in mesh netting :twocents
#14 fly hook
Squeeze on a tiny piece of bread or hot dog.
I’ve caught many with a minnow trap
Minner seine
The pond I go has a sign that says pole fishing only. I could sneak my minnow net but dont have a cast net anyways. Other bodies of water a net would be best, but for rod and reel for this pond in particular is needed.
But I hadn't thought about my minnow trap. Small and easy to conceal!!
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I would try a #12 long shank hook and a Berkeley gulp maggot threaded on the hook. They make good fertilizer under mamas roses when they’re that small, but be careful of the wildlife wanting a free dinner.
Toss out a sabiki rig. They're designed to catch small bait fish.Quote:
Originally Posted by BAFishBarn
You can order flies online cheap with size 18-20 hooks. That'll catch you more tiny ones than you could use.
I agree with what skeetbum said. I’d add keep it under a float and keep it moving. Keep the gulp maggot right at the business end of the hook. When they peck at it, they will hook themselves more times than not.
number 10 or 12 with a tiny bit of worm on it
I can LITERALLY ketch minnows with this set up if I want to ketch the lilz :Rofl
Panfish in general are too easy to catch once I find them - but - only if the right tackle within a range is used.
I would start out with unpainted jigs in different weights in a few hook sizes. Why distract attention away from the lure with a bright colored paint job making a lure appear longer larger unless preferred.
These are standard in by box:
A handful of 1/32oz, 1/24oz, and/or 1/16oz are basic sizes along with proper hook sizes #4 and #6 for lure sizes from 2.5"-1.5" and #8 hook for lures near 1. Lure selection is wide open. Here are just a few that have caught all size panfish as well as other species:
A Beetle Spin a small grub catches them:
https://i.imgur.com/qEQW7Mv.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/aGdZhNW.jpg
Spike tail grubs work great:
https://i.imgur.com/ZyjW3ai.jpg?1
...as does a Crappie Magnet grub:
https://i.imgur.com/ro4q14o.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/GSB529f.jpg
Caught them on Slider Worms which you can shorted for very small gills:
https://i.imgur.com/RQ5YNGd.jpg?1
Wacky rigged mini-sticks work:
https://i.imgur.com/icENBL5.jpg?1https://i.imgur.com/nhY9Ebq.jpg
Here's one of many that struck a Joker Grub:
https://i.imgur.com/gQQ8NJa.jpg
Two grub bodies fused together:
https://i.imgur.com/rpxTBni.jpg
Another wee sunnie on a thin flapper tail:
https://i.imgur.com/QhnaB9k.jpg?1
...and Bass Assassin grub:
https://i.imgur.com/NhruzKy.jpg?1
Curl tail grubs do okay such as Mr Twister, but my preference is a PowerBait Ribbontail grub:
https://i.imgur.com/DyR52BC.jpg?4https://i.imgur.com/LIQtgzd.jpg
A light action rod 5.6-6' works for me as does using 8# test braid (2# test diameter) with a 4-6# test fluorocarbon leader for best lure action and light strike detection. If the fish are generally 4" or less, consider using 1/32 oz. ball head jigs with lures such as the above between 3/4 - 1". Light line and jigs allow for very slow retrieves with pauses. Any lure example posted can be jigged on bottom or, my personal preference, worked horizontal to the bottom at different depths.
When it comes to lure colors, the only one I don't use because of poor water clarity 5' from a fish is black. Other than that, what matters more is lure size, tail action (if any), hook size and your retrieve. All of the above will catch far more than live bait hands down in water over 40 degrees. Floats can be used with many of them, but I want to be able to cover different depths as well as more areas quicker even if slowly - if that makes any sense.
Go light/ go slow/ go small
I use small Ice jigs with a #12 hook and a bit of slim Jim smoked links as bait. It's a killer. You can use Crappie nibbles also.
I've had my best success for tiny bait size perch with a #12 or #14 hook loaded with 1 live maggot under a quill slip float. Deadly.
Try some of the “ Itty bit “ jig heads made by Bobby Garland
I hand tied some black ones with the skirt barely longer than the hook .
Use a float and light tackle.
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I would use a size 10 or 12 hook with tiny piece of red wiggler worm.
So it seems I was using too big of a hook and too big of a bait. I will downsize to a 10 or 12 and try crappie nibbles and worms I dug up. Then onto to catfishing!
Unless crappie will take whole live bluegill!
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Your question and Pap's response reminded me of a time I helped a friend of mine reclaim a small three acre pond that was overtaken by small bluegill and other sunfish that never seemed to get over four or five inches long due to overcrowding. I used bread crumbs to bait 'em up in an area and a cast net to catch net fulls of them at a time on each cast... the majority of which were interned into the garden spot, as skeet did. I also took some of the gills to the nearby Cape Fear River where I would catch stringers of big mud, blue and channel catfish that I took back to the pond and released. After a trip or two... I probably put about thirty good sized catfish in the pond. Then, I let nature run it's course for about a year... and the gill population was brought completely under control. Later, I added sixty crappie, thirty bass and four grass carp.
Sorry for straying a bit off topic there brother... but I'm a geezer with lots of stories.
Yep, I would definitely agree with Pap that a cast net is the way to go... even if you have to find a friend (who has one) to make a quick cast or two for you.
I love fishing stories so that's awesome!Quote:
Originally Posted by Special K
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Smaller the hook the better.Quote:
Originally Posted by BAFishBarn
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Never tried it with bluegill, but when I was a kid I used to catch minnows sight fishing with the top section of a two piece rod, about 4 ft. of clear sewing thread, a size 20 hook, and a slice of bread to squeeze small pieces into dough balls on the hook. I imagine something similar would work on tiny bluegill, but you may need a longer pole and a tiny float like a trout fishing strike indicator if they are not right where you can see them.
sabiki rig would do it
Have you tried a Dupont spinner?
Teeny tinny hooks or flies from 8 to 12 in size.
Well your advice worked. Got some good live bait sized gills going with the next to smallest hook I have and crappie nibbles
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Also is this a redear?Attachment 345412
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This might be of help:
Quote:
Sometimes people mistake the deep-bodied redear sunfish for a bluegill. However, if you know what marks to look for, you can easily avoid this mistake. Redear sunfish as not very colorful, and range in color from grey to olive green on the side. Their scales may or may not take on vertical bars along the sides. They also sport a black ear flap that is lined with white and has a red spot (in males) or an orange spot (in females) at the tip. Their mouths are generally fairly small, but large enough to eat their favorite prey, snails.
It's not colorful and has the red on the gill flap. So I'm thinking yes?Quote:
Originally Posted by Spoonminnow
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Young fish are hard to classify and especially so if they are hybrids.Quote:
The redear sunfish also has faint vertical bars traveling downwards from its dorsal. It is dark-colored dorsally and yellow-green ventrally. The male has a cherry-red edge on its operculum; females have orange coloration in this area.
I use a 3wt fly rod with small dry flys. They don't inhale the hook ,itsfast action and is fun. Its also a fun and easy way to introduce kids to fly fishing..now I just kick back and watch my grandkids catch. They love it and can handle a fly rod vary well now at 5 ,6,&7 years old. They are hooked.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lloakley930
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I just started fly fishing and have been practicing on sunfish. You're right, a small fly and they will go crazy. Yesterday they were so aggressive I could see them swiping at the fly, then I would haul them in!!Attachment 347908Quote:
Originally Posted by Bugslingr
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Exactly what I was going t post.Quote:
Originally Posted by deathb4disco
piece of slim jim on a #14 fly hook
Female redear, yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by BAFishBarn
Sooo..... what is a sabiki rig???Quote:
Originally Posted by huntinslabs
Btw I got it figured out with your guys help. Smallest hook I had and ended up using crappie nibbles. That and my fly rod with a tiny fly. Now everytime I've tried to catch them for bait I actually do haha
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How you can tell the sex from a pic is baffling Haha. I saw the red gill flap so that's what made me think it was. Thanks for confirming.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin22
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YouTubeQuote:
Originally Posted by BAFishBarn
What they said,
i catch tons of small bluegill and green sunfish with my regular crappie jigs in 1/8th or 1/16th. just use sweeping action with any color and catch tons of them. Or even big crappie, bass or even catfish. when you keep jig moving they will attack it and not nibble.
best thing about CDC. you have a question and boy do you get responses you can use immediately.
I got a 50/50 shot!Quote:
Originally Posted by BAFishBarn
Females usually have yellow bellies, longer head/nose, and less defined markings. Theres no real definitive way to tell at that age, but couple what i just said with 50/50 odds and i like my chances im right.